Emergency Services Always Open

For Andrea Tucker and Sherry Witherow, there was no celebrating this 4th of July. Instead, they spent the holiday sifting through soot.

"We have nothing. I mean, what you see is what we have. Nothing," said Sherry Wiitherow.

A fire ripped through their home in the middle of the night on Thursday, leaving nothing but scraps behind. Ms. Witherow said she tried calling for help.

"We tried the Community Kitchen, we tried the Red Cross, Salvation Army, United Way. Everything was closed, because of the 4th," Andre Tucker.

 So, we wondered: what's the policy for service organizations, like those, on holidays?

"Doesn't matter what day of the week, if it's a holiday, or 3:00 in the morning. We pride our self on that. We're never closed. We're open 24/7, 365," said John Hitchens, the Emergency Services Director for the Red Cross.

He says there is always someone there to help.

"We have a schedule set up where we have what we call volunteer dispatchers and they receive the call. So if someone were to call here, they'd get our answering service and they were forward it on to our dispatch," said Hitchens.

The Salvation Army has a similar policy of never closing, which they say helps to better assist their clients. They say you can call 423-756-1023 at any time and should be able to reach someone who can help you.

The United Way tells us the Statewide 211 referral call line was down this weekend, due to storms. Usually, the 211 service helps pin down exactly what people are in need of, whether it be clothes, shelter, food, or prescription medication- and refer them to someone who can help. The call line is back up and running today. It is also a 24 hour a day service.